Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Three - Done and Done

  I slumped into the booth and closed my eyes. I felt at once exhausted and energized. It was a weird, frustrating feeling. Worse, I felt kind of... unhooked?

  It was currently... I glanced at the time in the corner of my vision, even with my eyes closed I could see the time now, and the digital readout said it was noon-thirty. Later than I'd ever gotten in a loop, and probably a good sign that this was the one.

  "You good?" Becky asked. I felt her slide in next to me, hip bumping mine for a moment before moving back.

  "Yeah, just tired," I said before reopening my eyes.

  We had changed into more public-appropriate clothes and had driven a ways out of the industrial zone. I had returned the van, parked my bike somewhere safe nearby, and had rejoined the girls here.

  It wasn't the high-class kind of place that I had expected from Fran, but instead a little diner just off one of the main highways into the city. It was a nice place, admittedly. It was very old-school deco, with chrome everywhere and nice padded booths. It was even kind of semi-private in the way it was laid out, and the prices on the menu were a smidge higher than what I'd have been comfortable with a real-time month ago.

  Still, it wasn't a Michelin Star place.

  Probably for the best. A good ma?tre d' would take one look at Becky's shit-eating grin and would put all three of us out.

  I blinked, trying to keep my eyes focused. "Are you well?" Fran asked from across the table.

  I nodded. "I'm fine," I said. "Just... it's been a long night. I'm feeling a little tired, but also kind of buzzing?"

  "Yeah, tell me about it," Becky said. She waved her hand vaguely before her, then giggled. "I can feel the magic. It's nuts."

  "We tackled two... locations," Fran said, obviously trying not to be too obvious about what we'd done. "The first likely charged us up fairly well. The second would likely push that beyond what was normal. I suspect that an E and D together are worth nearly as much as a C on its own. And we did it with only three people. Split so few ways, that's a lot of magical energy."

  I nodded along, then remembered to check my wrists. The Pulselet had been active for... well, not a full day of real time yet, but it had been active for a while, and on poking it, it came awake to reveal that it was mostly done with its initiation.

  I had my heart-rate, my blood ox, a few other measurements that I didn't know much about. My 'resting state' was bad, which I assumed meant that the biomonitor wanted me to take a serious power nap, but I skipped past all that to focus on my gains.

  Magic

  211 - D-32

  Capacitance:

  74%

  Damn, that was a big leap. Ten points in just a day. "We have gotten a lot of out it," I said. "But don't expect that kind of thing every week."

  "If we did do that kind of thing every week, we might well climb from D to C in only... give or take three months," Fran said.

  "Damn, y'all nuts." Becky said. "What about me, huh? I've been a D-ranker for like, a while. Ain't I due?"

  "Maybe," I said. "What're your measurements?"

  Becky snorted. "83, 54, 78," she said.

  "Huh?"

  "You weren't asking for my bust-waist-hips?"

  "No," I said.

  "There is no way your bust is 83 centimetres," Fran replied. She crossed her arms, emphasizing the wealth of experience she had in that regard.

  "I'm allowed to dream," Becky said.

  "I meant your magical measurements," I said. "When was the last time you had a reading taken?"

  Becky shrugged. "Iunno, never? What's it matter?"

  "I suppose it doesn't, though it would tell you how close you are to cresting over to C-rank," I said.

  "Nah. Mouse said that it's not all about how much magical juice you have or whatever. It's deeper than that. Like... hitting D-rank ain't all about being close to magic a bunch. You gotta feel it."

  I supposed that she wasn't entirely wrong, there. Maybe I ought to look into 'feeling it' myself. I hadn't exactly been pushing myself towards exploring the core emotion of my magic in a while. I'd have to if I wanted to pass the C-rank hurdle.

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  "If you're so tired, Deadline, we can end this lunch early," Fran said.

  "No, I'll be fine," I said. "Though once we're done here, I will be going home to sleep. I'm probably due for a few hours."

  "It'll be good for you. You want the magical energy to settle and do what it must. I suspect that both of us are hitting the same issue, where we're gaining in magical potential far faster than we're gaining in knowledge of how to use that same potential."

  I nodded along. "Yeah. I need to grow my spell repertoire a lot. I don't know if it's all bad, however."

  "It shouldn't be," Fran said. "As you grow to have more magical energy, you can cast and carve more every day. Usually that's the bottleneck to growth. As long as we're determined and put in a good amount of effort, we'll grow to catch up to people with a more... ordinary rate of growth."

  "You two are too damned serious," Becky said as she very pointedly looked over the dessert menu. "C'mon, it's not all training and stuff."

  "I'd like to be so carefree, but I am working for a goal that I'll never be able to attain if I don't take it at least somewhat seriously."

  "Yeah, can't save the world if you're weak," Becky agreed. "Maybe I'll start studying too! I tried to learn spells the normal way a few times, but it always took too long."

  "Hmm, give me your number, I'll see if I can't find you a tutor," Fran said.

  I grinned. "Nice work, Fran, that's the smoothest way to get a girl's number I've yet heard."

  "Hmpf. And you just call me, without having ever asked me what my number is in the first place," Fran replied.

  "Huh, I guess I do. I hope you don't mind it too much?"

  Fran stared at me with narrowed eyes. "Not from you, no," she said. "It's mysterious."

  "Oh, mysterious is hot, right?" Becky asked.

  "Yes Becky," I said. "Mysterious is hot."

  And speaking of hot, our meals started to arrive a few minutes later. It wasn't anything too special. I had a burger, and while it was a bit much, I still bit into it and immediately discovered that I was ravenous. It might have been all that magical energy looking for calories to cannibalize or something, or maybe it was because the last time I'd eaten was a snack hours ago before doing a ton of exercise?

  Whatever, the burger was great, and I devoured it in a hurry, then when Becky's milkshake arrived, I snatched it off the table and took a long pull from it. "Damn, that's good."

  "Hey, my lips touched that straw," Becky said.

  "Did it?" I asked. "Are you afraid of indirect kisses?"

  Becky's cheeks warmed a little before she turned it into a grin. "Maybe I ought to make you pay with direct ones, huh?"

  "I don't know. I don't want to be shocked," I said. "It feels like I might need some electrician gear if I want to do anything with you, huh? Talk about protection."

  "Ah!"

  "Am I missing some context?" Fran asked.

  "A little," I said.

  "No," Becky replied.

  The fact that she was so embarrassed was really quite endearing. I didn't want to push it, of course, but it was funny. If I wasn't so damned tired, I might actually see if I couldn't make Becky spark a little more.

  Unfortunately, I was dead on my feet. The meds were wearing off, and it was just a quick application of Soothe Minor Pain that kept me from complaining about the constant itch from my surgery scars.

  So, because I had no other choice, I said goodbye to the girls and told them that I'd be in touch. Maybe there would be another opportunity to tackle a portal in the coming week, if we were lucky. In the meantime, some time to train and practice couldn't hurt.

  I... had work in the morning, and as always, the morning was far too close.

  I got on my bike and headed home, riding nice and slowly, fighting off the drowsiness of sleep the entire time.

  I didn't even shower when I got home. I just flopped onto my bed, then shifted to the most comfortable position I could find.

  Today might have been a long, dragged-out pain in the ass, but damned if it wasn't a rewarding day.

  ***